BFA designer Tom Negaard has been elevated to Associate. Tom joined the firm in 2022 and has since worked on a wide variety of projects including the Martha's Vineyard Residence, Grand Central Optical, and Columbia University's Mathematics Library.

Principal Monty Freeman joins the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design as a guest lecturer beginning May 1. He will teach a design studio in the post-professional Masters of Historic Preservation program focusing on the New York City Landmark Andrew Freedman Home on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. The owners of the property, the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council, is committed to developing 200 units of low-cost housing on the site, and this studio will explore how this critical objective can be achieved while also preserving the historic structure and landscape.

Since 2006, Modernism Week has celebrated and fostered appreciation of midcentury architecture and design, as well as contemporary thinking in these fields, by encouraging education, preservation, and sustainable modern living as represented in the Palm Springs, California, area. This year, Founding Principal Monty Freeman, FAIA, will deliver a talk on “Cuban Modernism and Challenges of Preservation,” specialty areas of his research and practice. This topic is personal to him—his mother is Cuban and close relatives reside there. He recently acquired an apartment in Havana, which he is renovating for family and professional use. 

Monty was included in Curbed Magazine's piece featuring the multi-disciplinary residents of The Master Apartments on the Upper West Side. 

Monty Freeman recently participated on the CINTAS Foundation’s jury to grant fellowships in Architecture & Design, Creative Writing, Music Composition, and the Visual Arts. The Foundation provides one grant of $20,000 in each category, and the recipients are named Fellows of the Foundation. Based in Miami and New York, CINTAS has been supporting the arts and humanities since 1963. The awards competition is open to candidates of Cuban origin or descent, living on the island or of the diaspora. This year’s finalists will be announced in October.

Vladimir Belogolovsky, a New York-based curator and critic who writes ArchDaily’s “In Conversation” series, interviewed Monty Freeman, querying him about his studies under Louis Kahn, a decade-long experience serving as president of the board at Storefront for Art and Architecture, his interactions with Kevin Roche, organizing architectural tours to Cuba, and a dinner that fundamentally changed the course of his life.  

BFA completes a full restoration of the historic 1906 Engine Company 23 on West 58^th Street in Manhattan.

An expert on Cuban architecture and modernism, Monty Freeman reviews the new book Cuban Modernism: Midcentury Architecture 1940-1970 in Places journal.

The former home of real estate scion John Tishman, this Westchester abode was recently renovated by BFA with luxurious modern finishes.

Stockwell-Rodríguez Residence, formerly owned by John Tishman, is featured in The Real Deal.

In Places journal, Monty reports on the current situation in Havana, from both professional and personal points of view.

Stockwell-Rodríguez Residence featured in Mansion Global.

Architectural Record features Monty Freeman’s obituary for Eusebio Leal Spengler this month.

Eusebio Leal Spengler, Historian of the City of Havana for more than 40 years and credited with the transformation of Old Havana from a deteriorated urban enclave into a showcase of exquisitely restored Spanish colonial architecture and urbanism, unrivaled in the Western Hemisphere, died last Friday, July 31, at age 77. 

English television Al Jazeera interviewed Monty Freeman on the life and legacy of Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler. Historian of the City of Havana for more than 40 years, he is credited with the transformation of the city from a deteriorated urban enclave into a showcase of restored Spanish colonial architecture and urbanism.

Monty Freeman is a featured speaker at the World Monuments Fund conference on historic preservation in Havana, Cuba.

Habitat’s “Art Deco Gem Nurtures Its Artistic Legacy” chronicles Monty Freeman’s efforts to restore the architectural heritage and cultural community legacy of New York’s Masters Apartments.

BFA architect Alex Gryger has been elevated to Principal. Alex joined the firm in 2013 and has held leadership roles in some of the firm’s most important projects, including historic preservation at the Yale Club of New York City and the environmentally sensitive development of an expansive oceanfront residence in Martha’s Vineyard.

Columbia University’s School of International Affairs “Cuba and Beyond” lecture series featured Monty Freeman and Michael Adlerstein reporting on “Sustainable Building Renovation in the Tropics,” the June workshop they co-conducted in Havana.

Habitat’s cover story, “The Legacy Stewards at the Master Apartments,” celebrates Monty Freeman’s stewardship of an art deco landmark on Riverside Drive in Manhattan. A member of the coop’s board of directors, Monty chairs the building committee, directing all restoration projects.

Architectural Record features “Havana On My Mind” by Monty Freeman, which recounts the perilous state of Cuba’s capital city on the eve of its 500th anniversary.

Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation is hosting a summer student workshop led by Monty Freeman and Michael Adlerstein in Havana, Cuba, focusing on best practices of sustainable building renovation in a tropical climate.

In Search of the Just City: Rethinking the Old Essex County Jail, a multi-media exhibit explicating the 2018 architectural and interpretive design studio Monty Freeman and Bryony Roberts co-taught in Columbia University GSAPP’s historic preservation program, is now on view in the Hahnes Building in Newark, New Jersey. The studio focused on the city’s historic, abandoned, Old Essex County Jail, offering proposals for its interpretation and rehabilitation for new uses. The exhibition will close in September.

BFA Associate Principal Haan Chau has been elevated to Managing Principal. Haan joined the firm in 2010 and Haan holds a leadership role in the firm’s design, company culture, and business development practices. She has designed and managed major projects for Columbia University, New York University, Stevens Institute, and International House.

Columbia University’s GSAPP Historic Preservation program will feature a spring semester design studio (Studio 2) by Monty Freeman focusing on design interventions for Manhattan sites in the Morningside Heights and Manhattanville neighborhoods.

The Society of Architectural Historians will sponsor a two-week tour of Cuba this month led by Monty Freeman, spanning the length of the island from Havana to Guantánamo.

Places journal - Monty Freeman reviews MoMA's ground-breaking exhibition on socialist architecture in Yugoslavia.

Columbia University’s GSAPP students will attend a week-long workshop in Havana led by Monty Freeman. The program will focus on Cuba’s modern architecture and the challenges of historic preservation there.

The Affordable Housing Institute has published Cuba Facing Forward with a foreword by Monty Freeman. This volume of essays grew from a 2015 Harvard University symposium of the same name.

Places journal publishes "Tradition for Sale," an essay by Monty Freeman about the new residential colleges at Yale University and other universities that "abdicate leadership in promoting artistic innovation as they pander to plutocratic donors."

Monty Freeman will lead a group of artists on a five-day tour of Havana this month, focusing on the contemporary art scene in Cuba’s capital city.

Places journal publishes "Cuban Futures," Monty Freeman’s essay examining the state of US-Cuba relations after the death of Fidel Castro and the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Monty Freeman will lead a select group of arts administrators and cultural producers on a concentrated art and architecture tour in Havana this month.